Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1880

Date Range To

1890

Materials

COTTON, LEATHER, GLASS

No. Pieces

1

Length

103.2

Width

5

Description

BEADED BELT WITH A GEOMETRIC PATTERN SET AGAINST A GREEN BEADED BACKGROUND. PATTERN ALTERNATES BETWEEN TWO MIRRORED BLACK, YELLOW, BLUE TRIANGLES WITH THEIR BASES AT EITHER WIDTH END OF THE BELT MEETING IN THE CENTER AT THEIR POINTS AND LARGE RED AND BLUE WITH A GREEN CENTERED TRIANGLES WITH THEIR BASE AT ONE WIDTH END AND THEIR POINTS EXTENDED TO THE OPPOSING END. BEADS ARE SEWN INTO A COTTON, CANVAS FABRIC. TWO ANIMAL HIDE TIES (EACH A DIFFERENT LENGTH FROM 6.2 TO 11.8) ON EACH END AT EACH CORNER OF BELT. BACK SIDE IS RAW FABRIC WITH SEAM AT CENTER CONNECTING THE TWO HALVES. ENDS ARE HEMMED WITH TIES SEWN TO THE OUTSIDE. CONDITION: SEVERE DISCOLOURATION TO FABRIC BACKING AND SEVERE WEAR TO ANIMAL HIDE TIES. MANY LOSS THREADS OVER ENTIRE SURFACE OF BACK. BEADS AND BEADING IN EXCELLENT CONDITION OVERALL.

Subjects

INDIGENOUS

Historical Association

ETHNOGRAPHIC

History

UPON THE DONATION OF THIS BELT TO THE GALT MUSEUM, THE DONOR – PATRICIA LYNCH-STAUNTON – EXPLAINED THAT THIS BELT BELONGED TO ALFRED HARDWICH LYNCH-STAUNTON, WHO SERVED IN THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE IN FORT MACLEOD. HE RANCHED IN THE LUNDBRECK AREA AND SUPPLIED HORSES TO THE MOUNTIES. THE DONOR SAID THAT SHE HAD “NO KNOWLEDGE OF HOW [ALFRED HARDWICK] CAME INTO POSSESSION OF THE BELT. A NOTE ON THE INITIAL DOCUMENTATION ATTRIBUTES THE DATE OF THIS BELT TO CA. 1880-1890. THE ACTING CURATOR OF THE NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN DEPARTMENT OF THE GLENBOW, JOANNE SCHMIDT, AGREED WITH THE DONOR’S BELIEF THAT THE BELT WAS BLACKFOOT. THROUGH THE COMPARISON OF THE BEADED MOCCASINS AND BELTS IN THE GLENBOW’S COLLECTION WITH THIS BELT, SCHMIDT EXPLAINED THAT THE DESIGN ON THE BELT WAS MOSTLY FOUND ON THOSE FROM SIKSIKA, BUT SHE HAS ALSO SEEN THE DESIGN IN PIIKANI AND KAINAI BEADWORK THOUGH THERE ARE NOT MANY EXAMPLES IN THE COLLECTION. ALSO BY USING THE GLENBOW’S COLLECTION AS A POINT OF REFERENCE, THE CURATOR BELIEVES THAT THE BELT IS SIMILAR IN APPEARANCE TO THOSE OF THE 19TH CENTURY TO EARLY 20TH-CENTURY MUSEUM HOLDINGS. SCHMIDT ALSO PROVIDED AN EXPLANATION OF THE DESIGN FROM THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF HISTORY. IT STATES, “ONE OF THE EARLIEST DESIGNS USED WAS ‘MIISTA-TSIKA-TUKSIIN,’ OR MOUNTAIN DESIGN. OTHER DESIGNS INCLUDED SQUARES, DIAMONDS, BARS, SLOTTED BARS AND STRIPES… TODAY SUCH DESIGNS ARE CALLED ‘MAAH-TOOHM-MOOWA-KA-NA-SKSIN,’ OR FIRST DESIGNS.” IT WAS FURTHER EXPLAINED THAT A COMPLICATING FACTOR IN IDENTIFYING THE BELT’S ORIGINS IS THE FACT THAT THE BLACKFOOT TENDED TO USE WHITE OR BLUE AS THE BACKGROUND COLOUR, NOT GREEN AS IS PRESENTED IN THE LYNCH-STAUNTON DONATION. ON 19 JANUARY 2017, MUSEUM STAFF FURTHER CONSULTED WITH RYAN HEAVY HEAD, FORMER DIRECTOR OF KAINAI STUDIES AT RED CROW COMMUNITY COLLEGE, REGARDING THE BELT’S DESIGN. HE EXPLAINED, “THE GREEN BACKGROUND IS ATYPICAL OF BLACKFOOT BEADWORK, WHICH IS NORMALLY BLUE. THE ‘MOUNTAIN DESIGN’ [DISPLAYED ON THE BELT] IS A COMMON MOTIF IN BLACKFOOT BEADWORK, BUT AGAIN THE COLOURS ARE NOT TYPICAL IN THIS EXAMPLE.” RYAN SPECULATED THAT DURING THE TIME OF DISEASE (WHEN THIS BELT APPEARS TO HAVE ORIGINATED) THERE WAS SOME DISRUPTION IN TRADITIONAL LIFE AND THAT COULD BE REFLECTED IN THE COLOUR CHOICES. ALTERNATIVELY, THE BELT MAY HAVE BEEN MADE BY THE GROS VENTRES FROM NORTHEAST MONTANA. THE DONOR, PATRICIA LYNCH-STAUNTON, IS THE GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER OF ALFRED HARDWICK LYNCH-STAUNTON. THIS BELT WAS PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE FAMILY, FIRST FROM A. H. LYNCH-STAUNTON, THEN TO THE DONOR’S GRANDFATHER, F. C. LYNCH-STAUNTON, THEN TO HER FATHER, A. G. LYNCH-STAUNTON, FINALLY TO THE DONOR WHO BROUGHT IT TO THE MUSEUM. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION COMES FROM THE “A. H. LYNCH-STAUNTON FAMILY HISTORY” WRITTEN FOR THE MUSEUM USING ONLINE SOURCES, THE GLENBOW ARCHIVES, AND THE BOOK TITLED “HISTORY OF THE EARLY DAYS OF PINCHER CREEK AND SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS OF ALBERTA.” “ALFRED HARDWICK LYNCH-STAUNTON (1860-1932) WAS BORN IN HAMILTON, ON AND CAME TO FORT MACLEOD IN 1877 TO JOIN THE NWMP. ACCORDING TO THE PINCHER CREEK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, HE WAS SENT TO ESTABLISH A HORSE BREEDING FARM AT PINCHER CREEK IN 1878. AFTER RETIRING FROM THE NWMP IN 1880, LYNCH-STAUNTON STATED THE FIRST CATTLE RANCH IN THE PINCHER CREEK AREA WITH JAMES BRUNEAU AND ISSAC MAY, AND LATER HOMESTEADED WEST OF TOWN. ALONG WITH HIS RANCH, LYNCH-STAUNTON MARRIED SARAH MARY BLAKE (1864-1933) IN 1890 AND THEY HAVE FIVE CHILDREN: VICTORIA, FRANDA, FRANCIS, JOHN, AND D’ARCY… A.H.’S BROTHER RICHARD LYNCH-STAUNTON (1867-1961) CAME AS FAR WEST AS MEDICINE HAT IN 1883 WITH HIS FATHER, F. H. LYNCH-STAUNTON, WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF THE SURVEY PARTY. RICHARD CAME WEST AGAIN, TO PINCHER CREEK, IN 1885 OR 1886. IN ABOUT 1900, HE ACQUIRED LAND NORTH OF LUNDBRECK, ON TODD CREEEK, WHICH BECAME THE ANTELOPE BUTTE RANCH. RICHARD AND A. H. WERE IN PARTNERSHIP FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS IN CATTLE-RANCHING AND, ACCORDING TO THE DONOR, WITH THE BUTCHER SHOP. IN 1901, RICHARD MARRIED ISABELLE MARY WILSON (1868-1971), AND THEIR SON FRANK LYNCH-STAUNTON (1905-1990), ALBERTA’S 11TH LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR FROM 1979 TO 1985. LYNCH-STAUNTON DESCENDANTS CONTINUE TO RANCH IN THE LUNDBRECK/PINCHER CREEK AREA.” PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING CORRESPONDENCE WITH DONOR AND PEOPLE CITED IN ABOVE HISTORY.

Catalogue Number

P20170002000

Acquisition Date

2016-12

Collection

Museum

Less detail